CAHS teacher gets internationally certified

Mary Barker Staff Writer, @mbarkerCDT @mbarkerCDT

Tuesday

Jul 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Cheboygan Area High School English Language Arts teacher Sandy Safford has earned international certification as a teacher consultant after completing an intense four-week program, which she hopes will lead to better ways of teaching writing.

Cheboygan Area High School English Language Arts teacher Sandy Safford has earned international certification as a teacher consultant after completing an intense four-week program, which she hopes will lead to better ways of teaching writing.
Safford taught English Language Arts in Cheboygan at both the middle and high school 2004-2009. She spent 2011-2012 as a Title I reading instructor at the JKL Bawheting Academy in Sault Ste. Marie; for students in a Native American charter school. And in the fall of 2012 she returned to the high school program in Cheboygan.
Recently, Safford was among a group of Northern Michigan elementary and secondary teachers participating in the 2013 Invitational Summer Institute at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, sponsored by Michigan State University's Red Cedar Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project. Of about 200 such sites in the United States, the Petoskey institute is considered one of the strongest satellites in the nation, said Safford.
National studies indicate students are struggling with writing for many reasons ranging from not writing enough to teachers who feel challenged by their own limited experiences in writing for broader audiences. Toby Kahn-Loftus, director of the Petoskey satellite program, stated in a press release that the six Northern Michigan teachers selected for the institute honed their writing skills and have a deep understanding of research-based, best-practice writing.
“They will be tremendous assets to their school districts,” said Kahn-Loftus.
The goal of the program is to teach teachers how to teach other teachers to transform their thinking about writing, said Safford. The institute also spent time developing the writing styles of those participating.
“We can now go back to our home districts using this experience as a building bleck to making changes within the district; to start looking at things differently,” said Safford.
A focus was to get writers to know their audience and the purpose of what they are trying to communicate and to find the writing style for each individual that works best given that goal.
“We desegregated how and why people write and what different writing looks like,” said Safford.
She said traditionally writing teachers have taught a formulated method tailored for a desired outcome based on the Michigan Education Assessment Performance, (MEAP), the state standardized test used to measure and rate the performance of school districts.
“The standard five-graph essay is what you hear a lot about in school. There is so much more to writing than that. That is not real-world. There are so many other forms of writing: novels, blogs, opinion columns, memoirs … We need to allow for opportunities to explore,” said Safford.
Safford said participants viewed many segments produced by Technology in Education, (TED). These short video pieces cover a variety of relevant topics impacting writing in today's environment such as how the Internet and other forms of technology are changing and new information on how the brain is motivated.
Much emphasis also was put on analyzing “mentor text,” – pieces of writing by accomplished authors from all genres.
“We used mentor text to help us work on our own exploratory writing … It helped us see what good writing looks like by studying the tone, imagery, style and repetition of different authors and trying to emulate some of those styles. We dabbled in different genres such as poetry and free verse,” said Safford.
She said this same approach can be used in the classroom so that students can gain a broader understanding of what strong writing looks like.
“We need to encourage ourselves as writers; we need to allow students to make mistakes, experiment and develop their own voice,” said Safford. “When you stick to formulated writing and you say there is only one way, it takes away their authenticity and autonomy. The student doesn't take as much ownership as the teacher wants them to,” said Safford.
Safford said teachers would do well to take the same approach to develop their own writing, and it will help them be more effective in the classroom.
“Teachers should consider themselves one of the best writers in the room; maybe not always the best because some of these students do amazing things. But sometimes teachers don't want to write in their own style because they might make a mistake and they don't want to show that.
“Teachers should show they can make mistakes; it's part of writing. Revision, drafting and editing is such a big part,” said Safford. “And it shows students that they (the teachers) are willing to reveal their own writing style and areas that they need to improve.”
Safford said the biggest challenge is not having enough time in the classroom and trying to balance fitting in time to teach the standards required by the state to prepare for assessment and also time to get enjoyment out of writing.
“Technology also pushes us in a different direction sometimes where we seek immediate gratification from what we communicate. Good writing requires longevity and stamina. A lot of younger people haven't had to write and write more and write it again,” said Safford.
However, Safford said her goal is to work with school administrators and teachers to try and get as much good writing time and practices integrated into the curriculum as possible.
In her own classroom, she hopes to take a first step by having students start to write journals and responding to strong examples of other strong writing.
“Let's have them emulate different styles and try different things and see where it takes them; you can go off in many different directions. And it's not just about writing; it helps in looking at you own life and opening your mind; broadening horizons and thinking differently.” said Safford.

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